Not a Steroid
by Girl-of-Braids
Summary: The avengers (well, most of them) are at a press conference when someone brings up the fact that the super soldier serum is eerily similar to a steroid. Talks about how Steve had horrible health issues.


The Avengers had been working together as a team for a while, but this was their first actual press conference. Before, everything had been handled by either Tony or a PR from SHIELD. But reporters had been asking forever for an interview with all of the avengers, and Bruce, Tony, Steve and Thor had been placed at a table, where a crowd of reporters were sitting in front of them with their notepads and recorders out. Clint and Natasha were being kept out of the limelight so that they could continue their work as spies, and Steve couldn't envy them more at the moment. Sure he had had to do press conferences during the war, but back then they hadn't been nearly so forceful and invasive with their questioning. During the press conference, they had all sat back for the most part and let Tony handle it, as he was the one most used to dealing with the press, but then there had been a rather pointed question for Steve.

"Captain America, do you endorse steroids? People are curious, seeing as the super-soldier serum was basically a steroid that you used to improve your body. You signed up for it immediately, and are currently using the strength it has given you in your daily life." The questioner was a young woman with a glint in her eye that immediately told Steve that she was not above getting down to the nitty gritty, and was prepared to make him look horrible to the public. Steve leaned forward, wanting to make sure that the microphone in front of him would pick up his voice.

"I would love to answer your question, but I'm afraid I can't as I don't know what a steroid is" Steve smiled bashfully and was prepared to leave the conversation again and return to his blissful job of looking pretty, when Tony leaned forwards and faced him.

"Well Cap, it's a drug that some athletes to enhance their performance and increase their physical appearance, even though they have a ton of bad effects like heart attacks, tendon rupture, mood swings and jaundice. They try and use it, but even without all the side affects it's illegal so they're usually suspended or something like that." Steve groaned. It looked like he would have to answer the question after all. Thankfully, he would be able to give her a good answer.

"Thank you Tony. To answer your question, ma'am, based off of what Tony has told me, I don't endorse steroids, since they seem like a horrible thing to be doing to yourself. However, you did mention that the serum was basically a steroid. Some might agree with you, but I really can't, because rather than wanting to use the serum for performance or appearance enhancements, I wanted to undergo the experiment to hopefully become healthier and to be of use to my country." Steve leaned back, thankful it was over. To his horror, however, it seemed that the reporter wasn't quite done yet.

"It's known that you were severely underweight, and had asthma along with a poor immune system, but I can't say I understand why this warrants something as extreme as the serum. Are you suggesting we give everyone with asthma and poor health extreme steroids?" The reporter now had a satisfied smirk on her face, thinking that she had trapped him in his own words. Steve was simply shocked. Did they really think he had been that healthy?

"Well then ma'am, I'm going to have to correct you on a few points. You see, I did have asthma, and I was sick very often, but that wasn't nearly all of it. I also had astigmatism, colour blindness, scoliosis, arrhythmia, heart palpitations, high blood pressure, heart trouble, stomach ulcers, pernicious anaemia, flat feet, diabetes, sinusitis, frequent colds, scarlet fever, rheumatic fever, nervous trouble, and fatigue. When Erskine first offered the idea of the serum to me, he introduced it as an opportunity for me to be of use for my country rather than a drain on it's resources. When he revealed what it was in it's entirety, I saw it as a chance to live past the age of thirty, which was my predicted age of death if I was lucky. I can't really say that I agree with you in your assessment in the serum as a steroid. Maybe for a healthy man it would be, but for me it was simply a chance for a longer life." Steve leaned back, feeling quite accomplished in stupefying the reporter, a tired smile on his face now that he was done. He then noticed the complete and utter silence, and looked around to see everyone, all the reporters and the other avengers, staring at him in disbelief. Steve felt a blush forming on his face, and was about to start squirming in his seat like a five-year-old when Tony leaned towards his mic.

"Okay then Cap. Thank you for that insightful explanation of your truly pitiful health way back when. Moving on…" Tony skillfully went on to redirect the conversation and the focus of the reporters. For the rest of the interview Steve sat back and kept his trap shut, letting Tony do all the talking with occasional input from Bruce or Thor. Steve nearly ran off the stage when they wrapped up, wanting to get out of the public eye as soon as possible.

For a while after that, a lot of people talked about his 'great journey' and 'impossible survival', but just like with everything else, it eventually died down. Steve was glad. He had no problem with people knowing how unhealthy he had been, but it made him uncomfortable to see himself exploited in this way for a feel-good story. So at the end of the month when it died down for the most part, Steve was glad, even if his story had opened a few eyes.

**The tumblr post where I got all of this information is**

** post/88698495965/chronically-ill-steve-rogers**

**I know that there are some conflicting ideas about what Steve's health issues were, but I think this is a really awesome post that I'm going to accept as canon for now. **

**And I got the stuff on steroids from a medical website; can't remember which one, but know that it's legit. **


End file.
